One Choice Can Destroy You
by kluhrissa
Summary: After choosing Abnegation at the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice feels that she's made a huge mistake. And during initiation, she meets Four among the factionless and does the unthinkable - she leaves her faction. Soon she discovers that Jeanine plans to exterminate the Abnegation leaders and must find a way to save her former faction.
1. Chapter 1

"Tris Prior" Marcus says, calling me up to the stage to choose my faction.

To choose my destiny.

I walk up, keeping my eyes downcast, and shakily grab the knife from him. I move my feet one in front of the other until I stand between the bowl of coals and the bowl of gray stones. Should I choose the comfortable life I've always known, even if I don't feel like I belong? Or should I choose Dauntless?

I close my eyes and take a deep breath as I pull the blade across my palm in one swift motion. My bloodied hand balls up into a fist and I hold it over the Abnegation stones.

I could never leave my faction. I could never hurt my parents the way Caleb just hurt them by choosing Erudite.

My fist opens up and my blood drips into the bowl, racing down the sides of the smooth stones.

There are silent nods and small smiles from the Abnegation; at least I know I'm welcome here.

I hand the knife over and walk over to the section of gray-robed people and take my seat behind them.

* * *

After the Choosing Ceremony, we stay behind to clean the bowls and stack chairs.

Stacking the hundreds of chairs is monotonous, but I like the simple task; it gives me time to think.

I can't help but notice the sinking feeling in my chest. Did I choose the wrong faction? My mind wanders to the Dauntless, and I yearn to be free like them. On the other hand, I want to be selfless like my parents. I look over to Susan who is now scrubbing away at one of the human-sized metal bowls. I wish that my choice was as easy as hers; she is Abnegation through and through.

I quickly push away the thought. Envy is self-indulgent, something my faction frowns upon.

After the cleaning is done, we all walk done the stairs – our feet moving in unison – and crowd onto the buses.

* * *

We arrive at Abnegation headquarters and Marcus leads us into a room that I have never seen before. There are ten plain bunks lined up along the long gray walls, which is the extent of the furnishings in the room; typical for my faction. He turns around in the center of the room and faces the six of us.

"I will be overseeing your initiation." Marcus says, "This is where you'll be sleeping for the next week and a half; bathrooms are down the hall."

He walks past us and heads toward the door. Right before he leaves, he looks back at us, "You'll be leaving for the factionless sector in half an hour to hand out food and clothing. The Abnegation involved in that charity will take you there."

And with that, he's gone.

* * *

"How are you?" Susan asks in her quiet voice.

"I'm fine, how are you?" I reply.

The formal conversations that the Abnegation have are painful for me to carry.

Her eyes bore into my skin, peeling me layer from layer until they find the truth. I am not fine. I am not okay.

It immediately fades and a warm, comforting smile spreads across her lips and she walks over to her bunk, perching on the edge of the mattress and securing a piece of loose hair into her tight knot.

I go over and lie down on my own bunk, folding my hands over my stomach and staring at the ceiling.

Part of me is glad that I chose this faction; at least my parents can say that one of their kids isn't a traitor. And I'm glad that I can be here for Susan, what with her brother leaving the faction too. It makes me wonder, how long ago did our brothers find out that they were going to leave us? Was it after the aptitude test, or before then? I remember the stacks of books sitting on Caleb's desk and regret not noticing his Erudite traits sooner.

Is Susan thinking the same thing about Robert?

I'll never know.

Another part of me feels trapped. Constrained. Caged.

There's a light knock at the door, and a small woman enters.

"My name is Lisa. Come; we'll walk to the factionless sector of the city." she says in her high soprano.

* * *

When we reach what looks like just another crumbling building, we stop and are given blankets, food, and clothing. Lisa opens the door and we walk in, a rank smell engulfing us. I don't know what I was expecting, but this is surely not it. A bunch of factionless mill about the room, chatting. It seems almost… normal; which is a big shock when you're told that being factionless is worse than death.

I start to hand out some blankets and then I see him. He had just finished a conversation with an older woman and was looking around the room when his eyes settled on me. He's tall and handsome, with dark blue eyes and a hooked nose. He's dressed in all black, and his clothes aren't ratty so I assume that he's Dauntless, but his close cropped hair mirrors that of the Abnegation.

I find myself walking towards him, our eyes locked on each other. When there are only a few feet left between us, I stop.

"Here." I say, handing him a can of soup.

"Awfully bold for a Stiff, aren't you?"

I cringe at the name and bite my lip, dropping my gaze.

"I'm Four." he says, tossing the can to a factionless man leaning on the wall closest to us.

"Beatrice." I respond. "How are you, Four?"

He shakes his head and laughs, "Typical Abnegation conversation starters get you nowhere, Beatrice; stifles the conversation."

I nod, not only to be polite, but because I agree with him. How am I supposed to be myself when my faction is strangling me?

He looks at me, analyzing my face. "You're different, Stiff."

I freeze, feeling like he can see that I'm Divergent just by looking at me. "It's _Beatrice_." I say almost under my breath. I find it hard to keep the composure that my faction has always practiced, and the longer he looks at me, the more I feel like I'm about to burst.

"Come on Beatrice, we need to do some street cleanup before it gets dark." Lisa calls.

I give the rest of my supplies to a family in the corner. "Goodbye, Four." I say over my shoulder as I walk to meet Susan at the door.

There's something about him… I can't put my finger on it just yet, but I'll figure it out soon enough. After all, I will be spending most of my time helping the factionless during initiation.

* * *

**Author's Note: ** This was difficult to write, and I don't know if I'm going to continue it. Reviews would really help!


	2. Chapter 2

"Wake up, Beatrice." Susan whispers, shaking my shoulder lightly; I was never a heavy sleeper.

"What's going on?"

"We're supposed to go to the meeting room. From there we go to clean up the factionless streets with the charity."

Susan crosses back to her bunk, pulling out a few pins from a drawer underneath it and tying her blonde hair into a tight knot at the nape of her neck. I grab my robes from the drawer beneath my own bed and walk to the bathrooms across the hall. When I finish changing, I look down at myself, trying to imagine wearing Dauntless black instead.

The worst part is that I could see myself fitting in with the Dauntless.

I walk back into the dormitory and try to put my hair into a neat bun, but my fingers kept fumbling and it kept falling out.

"Here, I'll do it." Susan offers.

She takes the pins from me and wraps my hair into a perfect knot with her deft fingers, pinning it into place.

"Thank you, Susan."

"You're welcome." she says with a warm smile.

I yearn to be more like Susan. I want to be selfless through and through, and I want to be sure of where I stand.

I rub my eyes with the heels of my palms, trying to push the thought from my mind, and put one foot in front of the other until I am in the meeting room with the five other initiates.

There's Susan, the closest thing I've ever had to a friend; Joseph, a tall and lanky boy with dark brown hair; Mary, a petite girl with shiny black hair; Stephen, who is lean and strawberry blonde; and Richard, a stout boy with black hair.

I have probably only talked to them once or twice, but neither of us put much effort into the whole friendship thing.

Lisa walks in through the doors with the rest of the volunteers, minus my mom. You're not allowed to interact with your parents during initiation, so she's stuck doing things like paperwork for the next week and a half.

"Alright then, let's go! Time for your first full day of initiation!" she chimes.

* * *

We enter the same factionless sector that we were in last night and start to collect trash while others come up behind us to sweep debris into heaps on the sidewalk to be picked up later. I concentrate on the task at hand and find solace in the monotony of it all.

After some time passes, a handful of the factionless start to pitch in. I find it strange that even though we aren't in the same faction, there is a sense of community that holds us together.

Someone comes up behind me. "Hello, Beatrice." he says in his deep baritone.

"Four." I reply, my voice void of emotion.

"Who knew a Stiff could be so curt?"

Normally I would be scared if a factionless teenager wouldn't leave me alone, but I enjoy the attention; another reason why I'm not good enough for Abnegation.

I turn to face him, and he was a lot closer than I thought. I have to take a step back so that I don't have to crane my neck to see his face. I look up at him expectantly, waiting for him to say what he came here for.

His dark blue eyes bore into mine and it feels like forever before he answers my silent question.

"I want you to meet me right over there," he whispers, pointing to the train tracks, "at 11 tonight."

He searches my face as I mull it over, thinking of all of the obstacles I'd have to cross.

There isn't much security in Abnegation, so it'll be easy to get out of headquarters. Everyone usually goes to bed around 9:30 or 10, and there are only a few street lamps, so it should be a breeze getting over to the train tracks.

Now I'm left to wonder what his ulterior motive is. But I don't have a reason _not _to trust him. And although he looks menacing, there is something… safe about him.

They say to look before you leap. Well I looked, and now it's time to leap.

"I'll be there." I whisper so that no one else can hear.

* * *

I tiptoe out of my bunk and slip on my shoes, not bothering to change out of my night robes. I slowly turn the doorknob and open the slightly creaky door. It squeaks against its hinges and I wince as Joseph and Susan stir in their sleep.

"Beatrice?" Susan mumbles.

"Bathroom." I say tiredly.

A look of doubt crosses her features, but she snuggles back into her sheets and nods off again. She must've seen me talking to Four, saw him point to the train tracks. But since she's Abnegation 100%, so she'll never tell; this information was never for her ears.

I walk through the hallway – still tiptoeing – and fear that my shoes squeaking on the tile will wake someone up; even though there is no 'someone' down this way to awaken.

I take a deep breath as I open the back exit as far as I dare, squeezing through the door. I exhale when I'm finally outside in the crisp summer night and the door is quietly closed. I run down the street, shoes smacking the pavement, and get out of Abnegation as fast as I can. I refuse to stop and catch my breath when I am finally in factionless territory out of fear that someone will find me.

I slow down to a walk when I hit grass, the dew soaking my pant legs and getting my ankles wet. About 10 yards away, I can see the tracks and a dark figure standing by them. I walk towards it, sure that it's Four.

"What are we doing at the train tracks?" I ask as a cold breeze blows by. I fold my arms, trying to stay warm.

"Wait." he says.

_For what?_ But then I see it.

I see the train coming into view in the distance, and it all clicks. He's from Dauntless, I assume. Dauntless ride the trains. We're at the train tracks.

I'm going to jump onto a moving train.

"Just follow me." Four shouts over the noise from the train.

The train started to pass us and he broke into a run, and I followed suit. Four swung himself into the train car with ease and my heart raced as I made the leap. When I landed, I was more out of the car than I was in, but I mustered the strength to pull myself in. I dragged myself to the back of the car and sat down next to him, giving myself time to catch my breath before asking what he wanted.

"Not bad for a first timer." he said, "I almost didn't expect you to make it."

"Well don't count me out just yet." I replied lightly. "So what do you want with me anyway?"

He looks at me quizzically, "Are you sure your test results were Abnegation?"

I freeze for a moment, but quickly recover. "Yes."

"You're lying." He accuses, "I can tell that you're choking in your faction."

"Is it that obvious?" I ask, defeated.

He looks at me like he's trying to decide if he can trust me or not, and then he turns to look out the side of the car at the city.

"I just recognize the feeling." he admits.

"The feeling of… what?"

"You're Divergent, Beatrice."

I freeze like a deer in headlights.

"So… you are, too?" I inquire.

"You can't tell _anyone_, Beatrice." Four stresses, then he sighs. "And I asked you to come tonight because I want to help you. There's not a lot of time to explain, but you're in a lot of danger, and it's not safe for you to stay in Abnegation; or any faction for that matter."

"Well I think I deserve an explanation!" I fume.

He leans back against the wall and lets out a deep breath. "When I joined the factionless a few days ago, I learned something; Jeanine Matthews is hunting the Divergent."

"How would the factionless know?"

"They're a lot more organized than you think."

I hug my knees to my chest and we sit in silence for a bit. When I look at his face, there's a sense of… familiarity there. It's almost as if I've known him all of my life.

"So why did you leave Dauntless?" I ask.

"They changed." he says disappointedly. "They used to be brave, but now they're just a bunch of bullies; their beliefs morphed over time."

As I'm watching him, it hits me.

"Marcus Eaton." I say.

Four looks at me questioningly.

"You're his son, Tobias." I add matter-of-factly.

"There's something I need to show you." he says coldly.

He gets up and stands at the edge of the car, holding onto the doors with his hands and leaning out. I get up and follow his gaze straight to a tall glass building.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Dauntless headquarters." And with that, he jumps out of the train, and I jump after him.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thank you all so much for the encouragement to continue after the first chapter! I really appreciate all of the feedback, and remember that you don't need an account to write a review.


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